Students writing

The Giant Panda

The Giant Panda is a very big mammal and lives in the mountains of Southwestern China. It weighs 86 to 125 kilos and it is black and white. It's 1.20 to 1.90 metres tall. It eats 12 to 15 kilos of bamboo a day and it lives about 20 years. There are about 1,600 pandas all over the world today. The Giant Panda is in danger because of lack of food, poaching and destruction of its habitat.

(written by Mary Dinou, E2 class)

European Day of Languages

At the initiative of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, the European Day of Languages has been celebrated every year since 2001 on 

26 September.

Throughout Europe, 800 million Europeans represented in the Council of Europe's 47 member states are encouraged to learn more languages, at any age, in and out of school. Being convinced that linguistic diversity is a tool for achieving greater intercultural understanding and a key element in the rich cultural heritage of our continent, the Council of Europe promotes plurilingualism in the whole of Europe.

The general objectives of the European Day of Languages are to:

• alert the public to the importance of language learning and diversify the range of languages learned in order to increase plurilingualism and intercultural understanding;
• promote the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe;
• encourage lifelong language learning in and out of school.

In keeping with these aims, people, young and old, are encouraged to take up a language, or take special pride in their existing language skills. Also, those responsible for providing access to language learning are encouraged to make it easier for people to learn a range of languages, and to support policy initiatives to promote languages. There is also emphasis on learning a language other than English.

On the occasion of the day, a range of events are organised across Europe, including happenings for children, television and radio programmes, language classes and conferences.

Students writing...

My favourite animal

The giraffe is a big, tall mammal with a very long neck and it lives in Africa. It is 6 metres tall and weighs about 1350 kilos. Its skin is thin and it is usually yellow with big brown spots. It lives about 20-25 years. It doesn't drink water very often, only every 2-3 days! But when it does, it drinks up to 37 litres at a time. The giraffe eats up to 63 kilos of leaves a day. I have seen a giraffe at the Attiko zoology park and it isn't dangerous.

(written by Tom Rigalos, E2 class.)

HOW TO BE BRITISH (1)

A  True Brit is writing...
If you have been a visitor to our country,  I expect you've realised why we call it Great Britain: our long and glorious history; the unspoilt beauty of our landscape; the rich variety of our weather, not to mention our unrivalled achievements in cricket and football. Then, there are our cherished traditions: afternoon tea at four, roast beef on Sunday, and warm beer until 11pm. And there's us with our old - world courtesy and tolerance. Oh, and our sense of humour. I mustn't forget that. We do like a good laugh!
As for me, well, I'm so many feet and inches tall, and I weigh so many stones, pounds and ounces. My petrol comes in gallons and my milk in pints - from a milkman. I pay for them, of course, in pounds sterling. My home is my castle and "I-Do-It-Myself". I only hope I live to pay off the mortgage on it. My garden is my recreation and a sanctuary to many endangered species, not least of all myself!

(from the "How to be British Collection" by Martin Ford and Peter Legon)
 

English Idioms (1)

Have a look at some English idioms.
Most of them have a Greek equivalent.
Can you find it?

1. A Bird In The Hand Is Worth Two In The Bush:
Having something that is certain is much better than taking a risk for more, because chances are you might lose everything.

2. A Doubting Thomas:
A skeptic who needs physical or personal evidence in order to believe something.

3. A Drop in the Bucket:
A very small part of something big or whole.

4. A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand:
Everyone involved must unify and function together or it will not work out.

5. A Leopard Can't Change His Spots:
You cannot change who you are.

6. A Picture Paints a Thousand Words:
A visual presentation is far more descriptive than words.

7. A Piece of Cake:
A task that can be accomplished very easily.

8. Actions Speak Louder Than Words:
It's better to actually do something than just talk about it.

9. Add Fuel To The Fire:
Whenever something is done to make a bad situation even worse than it is.

10. All Bark And No Bite:
When someone is threatening and/or aggressive but not willing to engage in a fight.

11. All Greek to me:
Meaningless and incomprehensible like someone who cannot read, speak, or understand any of the Greek language would be.

12. All In The Same Boat:
When everyone is facing the same challenges.

13. Apple of My Eye:
Someone who is cherished above all others.

to be continued...

Tweet this!

Check out our new Twitter profile. Follow us and learn our news. Click on the image.

Pound Sterling, the British currency

The pound sterling is the currency of the UK. One pound sterling is subdivided into 100 pence, the singular of which is "penny". 

£ is the sign for the pound and  p for the penny. The British pound is ranked as the fourth largest currency in the world after the euro, the US dollar and the Japanese yen. Both coins and banknotes are issued by the Bank of England.

The Bank of England

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The pound sterling has 8 types of coins: 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, 1£ and 2£. The monarch's head is on the obverse side of the coin and parts of the Royal Shield on the reverse.

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The banknote issues are: 5£, 10£, 20£ and 50£. There are also 1£ and 100£ banknotes which are in use only in Scotland (the last also in Northern Ireland)

 HRM Queen Elizabeth's II head on the British banknotes

The "Union Jack"

This is the "Union Jack" the flag of the United Kingdom. Download the black and white version (right click > save image as) and paint it. 

click here to see the flag's history

Find on the internet information about

"the Saltire" (flag of Scotland), 

the "Red Dragon" (flag of Wales) 

the "Ulster Banner" (flag of the Northern Ireland)

and the "St. George Cross" (flag of England)

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Look at the Irish Flag. There are three colours. Green represents the tradition of Ireland. Orange represents the Order of Orange. White represents the truce between them.

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Why does the Greek flag have nine stripes?

The British Isles outline map

 

This outline map can be downloaded and painted.

Tip: Use a school atlas or the maps below!

THE BRITISH ISLES

Strictly speaking, 'Great Britain' is a geographical expression but 'The United Kingdom' is a political expression. Great Britain is in fact the biggest of the group of islands which lie between the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is approximately two and a half times the size of Ireland, the second largest. Together they are called the British Isles. The expression originally described the islands themselves, not the political or national divisions within them.

The British Isles today are shared by two separate and independent states. The smaller of these is the Republic of Ireland, with its capital in Dublin. The larger, with London as its capital, is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This long title, (usually shortened to the United Kingdom or UK) is the result of a complicated history.

The island of Great Britain contains three 'nations' which were separate at earlier stages of their history: England, Scotland and Wales. Wales had become part of the English administrative system by the sixteenth century. Scotland was not completely united with England until 1707. The United Kingdom is a name which was introduced in 1801 when Great Britain became united with Ireland. When the Republic of Ireland became independent of London in 1922, the title was changed to its present form.

'Britain' and 'British' have two meanings. They sometimes refer to Great Britain alone, and sometimes to the UK including Northern Ireland. 'England' and 'English' are often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Great Britain.

Photos of today's Agiasmos Ceremony

The Agiasmos Ceremony took place today at our school.

Our best wishes for the new school year!

Our YouTube Channel is on air!

Our own YouTube channel is officially on air!
Visit and see:
1. "Astakos, our hometown", a short video for tourists giving directions to travellers.
2. "The Scarecrow's Dream", a small piece of our work at our drama studio.
3. Four videos of our school newspaper receiving the award for the Best Greek School Newspaper for 2009
4. A small video of our school parade at the local Carnival.

Find us on YouTube, click here

Greek Myths for kids: Medusa and Perseus

Once there was a good king, but he died. His bad brother killed him so that he could be king. The bad brother needed to get rid of the good king's wife (Danae) and baby (Perseus), but he was afraid to kill them too. So he put them in a wooden chest and he dropped the wooden chest in the ocean. After a long time they drifted ashore in a new kingdom. Perseus and his mother Danae stayed there while Perseus grew up. But after a while the king of the new place wanted to marry Danae, but she didn't want to marry him. This king wanted to get rid of Perseus for awhile so he could make Danae marry him. So the king sent Perseus on a quest, to kill the monster Medusa and bring back her head.At first Perseus didn't know where to find Medusa, so he went and asked the three Fates. The Fates were very old and they only had one eye and one tooth between them and they took turns every day, passing the eye and the tooth between them. When Perseus came to them, at first they didn't want to tell him where Medusa was. But Perseus waited until they were passing the eye from one to another, and so none of them could see. Then he quick grabbed the eye! The Fates had to tell Perseus where Medusa was in order to get their eye back.

Then Perseus met the god Hermes, who gave him winged sandals to wear so he could fly to where Medusa was, and fight from the air. And he met the goddess Athena, who gave him a sword and a shield. Athena told Perseus not to look at Medusa or her ugliness would turn him to stone. Instead he should use the shield as a mirror and look in that to cut off Medusa's head.

 source: www.historyforkids.org

Enid Blyton's books: the most famous short stories in the Greek '80s

Enid Blyton was an English writer of the 20th century also known as Mary Pollock. She became famous  in Greece for her eminent three book series that all children who grew up in the '80s have read. She was a schoolteacher and her work is constituted by more than 800 short stories. In England she became  famous for her books about 'Noddy' and the short stories 'Malory Towers', 'St. Claire' and 'Banery Mystery' but the short stories that made her famous worldwide were:

1. Secret Seven Society which is about a company of seven children who resolve police mysteries. In the 15 books of the english publication the names of the heroes are Peter, Janet, Jack, Barbara, George, Pam and Collin. In the Greek translation however we meet Petros, Jenny, Yannis, Barbara, Giorgos, Pavlina and Nikolos. A special hero is Scamper the dog. The books were written between 1949 and 1963 and were published in Greece by Gutenberg in the the '80s. 

2. The Five Sleuth-hounds (Five Found-Outers and Dog)  are a company of five children (older than the 'Seven') who resolve police mysteries every time they meet during their school vacations. The heroes are Freiderikos Avgerinos (or “Chondroulis”), head of the company and an expert on disguises, Aris and Rita (siblings), Pipis and Betty (also siblings) and Buster, a dog. The real names of the children (in the english version) are: Frederick Algernon Trotteville (or Fatty) instead of Freiderikos Avgerinos, Larry-Daisy - instead of Aris and Rita, and Pip-Bets instead of Pipis and Betty. A special character is the police officer Gounis (Mr Goon).  Blyton wrote the 15 adventure stories of  the Five Found-Outers between 1943 and 1961 and Gutenberg published them in Greece in the '80s.

3. The Five Friends (The Famous Five) are involved accidentally in adventures during their school vacations. This company is constituted by three siblings, Julian, Dick and Anna, their friend Georgina and their  dog Timmy. Most of these adventures  take place in Kerrin Cottage. The writer gave life to 21 adventure stories in 20 years (1942-1962) while the ITV made them a television series.

Enid Blyton died when she was 71 years old afflicted by the Alzheimer disease. Her heritage however is these books which have been read by most kids worldwide.

Agiasmos Ceremony

Our School Board announces that the Agiasmos Ceremony (religious ceremony on the first schoolday) will take place on Monday, September 13th. All students should be at school by 09:15.

...and we created the english version!

This is our first post in English! We don't know if there is a similar blog created by another Greek school but we think that we are the first. If not, please let us know and watch your blog activities. 

We created this blog because we want to post our students' work in English and also try to get in contact with other schools in Europe. We haven't participated in any European Educational Program yet,  but this is one of our goals for this year. Our English Language Teacher Ms Christina Stratou created this blog in collaboration with Mr Vassileios Zagkotas, School Teacher. So... wishes for a good start...